MY FAVORITE PEOPLE, MY FAVORITE RECIPES: PAULA WOLFERT I’ve never had the honor of cooking with Paula Wolfert, whom I credit in Feeding the Hungry Ghost, but it feels like I have. She’s practically a cult for me and legions of others. I first discovered Paula in an issue of Food and Wine when I was…

An American Vegan in Spain Originally posted for Huffington Post on 11/12/2012 Spain, with its rich history, dazzling art and passionate people, is a wonderful place to be. But not an easy one for a vegan. Spain is the home of Miró, but it’s also home to museos de jamon — ham specialty shops — on…

MY FAVORITE PEOPLE, MY FAVORITE RECIPES: DAVID LEITE At my very-first IACP conference, I met this great, gregarious guy who seemed to know everyone and have the skinny on everything. Because he does. David Leite (Portuguese for milk, rhymes with eat) curates the award-winning culinary clearinghouse Leite’s Culinaria, which he founded in 1999, before blogs were…

PULSE INNOVATION MIAMI Pulses (dried beans) —they’re so small, so basic, yet they inspire in me such passion. Beans are nature’s little powerhouses of plant-based protein, they’re cheap, sustaining and sustainable, low carbon, low water, high yield. Beans are among the first crops we cultivated — score one for mankind. I could go on for…

Our new washing machine overloaded and dumped water all over the utility room floor. This necessitated a major bail and mop. Then our antique dishwasher decided to call it a day and did the same thing, so within a couple of days, there I was again, cursing and mopping up buckets of water. I’d just…

This photo looks very like the spirit houses I used to see around Asia. There’s usually an image — a portrait or statue of the spirit, whether it’s a god or someone no longer living, and some offerings, frequently oranges. Candles and incense are lit, all of which is done to keep the spirits from…